


Unlikely Places

by aldendraco



Category: The 39 Clues - Various Authors
Genre: Character Death Fix, Fix-It, Mother-Son Relationship, Nobody is Dead, also nellie appears for like a second and alek is only mentioned but sh, let irina stay alive you cowards, sorta?? i like to think irina acts like an aunt or older sis to the cahills but ya know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-11 04:51:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15965093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aldendraco/pseuds/aldendraco
Summary: Dan Cahill is lost and alone in the roads of China, betrayed by all he knows and far from the only two people he can trust. Fortunately, an unlikely rescue awaits him, by someone he thought he would never see again. (semi-canon compliant to The Emperor's Code, rated T to be safe).





	Unlikely Places

**Author's Note:**

> Once again I am writting unrelated drabbles for fandoms I'm not even actively in instead of working on my actual big projects, but my attention span is like the Easter Rabbit: nonexistent. 
> 
> A n y w a y I was re-reading the 8th book and desperately wanted to fix Irina's death so uh. There you go. I tried to keep everyone IC and make Irina's speech pattern and word usage feel 'Russian' and all that, you know, with the removal of articles etc (it does help that I took Russian language classes for a year, I guess). I also tried to scan it for mistakes and all but, oh well. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy~

All Dan knew was that he was running -that he _had_ to run and get away from the Wizards and the whole Clue Hunt business as much as possible. He didn't care about anything and anyone anymore. Except finding Amy of course, but he barely had enough money on him for a payphone, he didn't speak Chinese, and his only source of help had been proved a scam.  
He was an elevel-year-old American boy lost in the middle of Xian, in a country with about two billion souls in it. Separated from the only two people in the world that cared about him -that he cared about just as much.

  
He plopped down onto the pavement. placing his elbows over his folded knees, and cupping his chin upon his palms. Things didn't look bright at all, he mused. And then, as if the universe wanted to rub it all over his face even more, a sudden downpoor broke down upon the city.

  
Dan flirted with the idea of finding a dry place to wait until the rain was done and over with for a few seconds; however, he didn't have the time to fully think it threw. A huge black Range Rover turned around the nearest corner at full speed, then his tires screeched to an abrupt stop right in front of Dan -dousing him with rainwater from the road in the process, and soaking whatever little part of him had remained dry.

  
"Hey!" He jumped on his feet and clenched his fists as if he was preparing to fight the car itself. "Are you blind or what-"

  
He paused all of a sudden, a frozen chunk of fear sinking in his stomach as he realised the windows were tinted. He jumped away as quickly as he could, and took a look at the car's backside -no plate or number. At the memory of the Kabras abducting him just a couple of days ago, he was more than hesitant to stand near that thing. It had appeared ouf of nowhere, too...

  
Yet after a full minute or so, the doors didn't burst open, big men in black suits didn't pounce on him, and no gun took aim on him out of the window. The car stood still and silent like a ghost, only its engine gurgling, as if it was haunted. And to Dan's slight dismay, his curiosity was starting to get the best of his caution.

  
Maybe he should stop viewing everything like an enemy. Despite what William McIntyre had said, he wasn't in the Hunt anymore. And maybe he had some... hidden allies. Irina had saved them in Java, Uncle Alistair had helped them in the past regardless of everything else and Professor Robert and his choir in Pretoria had saved them right out of Isabel's deadly claws. Who says this wasn't him again? And after all, he had no Clues on himself. He could just as easily escape if needed be, tell them he had nothing valuable on him. After all, what was the worst that could happen, after him losing Nellie and Amy?

  
Steeling his will and clenching his teeth, he reached for the handle of the back door and pulled it open.

  
The inside of the car was all black leather, and there was nothing on the seat except a gun -which at first made Dan almost lunge away again, but then he reasoned that whoever was that drove the car wouldn't just leave a gun there right in front of him for the taking, if their purpose was to kidnap him. Sucking in a deep breath, he crawled into the back seat, sitting as far away from the gun as possible.

  
"Took your time, as you Americans say." The voice that greeted him, hard words laced with a thick Russian accent, made Dan jump right out of his skin and almost bolt out of the car again.

  
" _Irina Spasky_?!" Maybe the car was haunted, after all.

  
"I understand I should give some... explanation about this." The woman muttered, steel blue eyes looking right at him through the rearview mirror. Against all evidence, she did not look like a ghost at all; stern look, harsh gaze, the black suit Dan always remembered her in. The sleeves covered her wrists, but he could see white bandages wrapped around her right hand as she placed it over the stirring wheel.

 

Alright, probably not a ghost. But if not, then...

  
"Okay, I do have some questions." He admitted. No, wait. "I have _a lot_ of questions. First things first: _what the hell_ are you dong here and _how_ did you find me and _how on Earth are you alive_ after-"

  
"That's more than one question." Dan abruptly shut his mouth, but Irina didn't seem inclined to harm him. "I'm here to take you to your sister. It's not difficult to find lost American boy in China, especially not you, Daniel. And as for your third question, it's a long story."

  
That must have been the biggest amount of words he'd ever heard Irina say in one go, but Dan swallowed back that particular witty remark and nodded. "I, uh... you know where Amy is?" He hated the hope that was almost palpable in his voice.

  
Irina just nodded. "Da. Those are my orders, too."

  
"Orders?" Dan raised an eyebrow. "By whom?"

  
"That I cannot tell you." Irina seemed to think about something for a few seconds, before adding "which is also why I cannot tell you how I got out of Java in one piece."

  
Secrets in the middle of secrets, then. Fair enough. Irina didn't owe him (if anything he and Amy owed her), and he couldn't say he wasn't at least a little bit happy to see her alive. And if she could take him to Amy...

  
"Alright then, captain Spasky." Irina threw him a mildly curious look at that.

  
"Is that what you Americans refer to as a "joke" of sorts?"

  
"I, uh... yeah, something like that." Dan looked out of the window, wondering if Irina had actually ever joked in her life. "So, where is Amy?"

  
"She and Nellie Gomez are staying in a motel near Luoyang." Irina informed him as she stepped on the pedal and kicked the car back into life. "About four hours ride from here."

  
Four hours with someone who used to be a mortal enemy, but had ended up almost dying to save him and his sister? That would be one awkward road trip. Still, Dan didn't mind it at all, especially after Irina stretched her arm towards the back seat, handing him a bag with the McDonald's logo on it.

  
"Kids eat that kind of food a lot, it would seem." She informed him after catching his surprised look through the mirror. "I thought you might be hungry."

  
Dan was already digging into his fries by the time Irina had finished talking, so he just nodded and uttered a muffled response as a thank-you. Irina turned back towards the road, so Dan didn't have time to see the small smile that tugged at her lips for a fraction of a second.

  
None of them spoke for an hour or so -especially since Dan was too busy eating- and night slightly drew in, the darkness falling earlier thanks to the rainclouds. Irina kept the car going at a steady speed of 90 km/h, and Dan was staring at the street lights passing them by like huge fireflies in a hurry. He was so absorbed by looking at them, that Irina's voice startled him out of his clothes.

  
"I understand fights between siblings." She said simply, eyes always glued on the road.

  
"Uh... you do?" Dan didn't know what else to say.

  
" _Da_. I also have a younger brother. His name is Aleksandr." There was something melancholic in the way she said his name, that Dan noted even in the middle of his renewed surprise.

  
"Oh." Was all he could say at first. "How much younger?"

  
"Just a year. We're like twins." Irina replied quietly. "We've also... fought in the past. Big fight. He no longer speaks to me."

  
As strange as it was, Dan felt himself pitying her after the days he'd gone without speaking to his own older sister. "Is it because of the Hunt?" he dared ask, and for once Irina's answer was no surprise.

  
"Yes. He didn't like the whole Cahill business. He was a trained assassin as much as I, but he did not want to put his abilities in the service of our branch. He had seen what this could lead to. We argued about it for weeks, then one day he was gone, leaving behind nothing but a note. I... do not know where he is now. Haven't seen him for ten years. I don't even know if he's alive."

  
"That... sounds bad." He didn't know what else to say. It still felt weird, chatting with Irina like that, but he felt as bad as if it had happened to him. And all he knew was that he didn't want this to happen to him and Amy, under any circumstances.

  
Irina didn't say anything else, and Dan sunk into his own misery for a few minutes. Then suddenly, he looked up again.

  
"You know what? I don't think your brother hates you." He said, and it somehow felt almost like a certainity the more he thought about it. "Siblings always fight, some worse than others, and maybe he was angry with you for a long time. But he didn't hate or forget you. He probably... doesn't know how to apologise. How to come back." Just like he had done with Amy. It hurt only to think about what could have come between them, now that he knew how bad things could get among siblings.

  
"Mmm... you may be right, Daniel." Irina replied in an almost absentminded tone. "In Java, it hurt to think that I would die without making things right between Alek and me," Dan felt anothet twitch of surprise at what was obviously an affectionate nickname for Aleksandr "or that he might already be dead without me even knowing."

  
Somehow, seeing that Irina had such human feelings made Dan sad -sad that she had no one to share them with. Was she always that alone?

  
Before he had time to say anything else, Irina broke the silence. "You better sleep. We still have about three hours to go."

  
"Uh... alright." Dan might have been a dweeb as Amy wanted to call him, but even he understood that Irina probably wanted to drop the subject. So he didn't say anything else, and lied down across the back seat. After a second thought, he sat up and dropped the gun over to the passenger's seat.

  
"You might need it." He said to Irina. He supposed that if she wanted him dead, she would have done it already. Or wouldn't have risked her life in Java at all. She repaid his trust with an appreciative nod and a quiet hum.

  
Dan curled up comfortably against the leather, using his still-wet backpack as a pillow (his clothes had thankfully almost dried up already). The soft purr of the engine and the rhythmic movement of the car, along with the newly found sense of safety and a full stomach, lulled him easily to sleep. Slowly, his eyelids begun to droop, but before darkness swallowed him up, he remembered something very crucial.

  
"Mmm...Irina?" he murmured sleepishly.

  
"Yes?"

  
"Thank you... for everything."

  
A strange, stiff pause on her part; as if she wasn't used to being thanked. Then a quiet "you're welcome, Daniel".

  
Sleep crept up on Dan like a thick fog, but before it overtook him, he was sure he heard Irina sing quietly, that song about Pretoria.

* * *

  
"Here we are."

  
Irina had parked the car in front of a sorry-looking hostel, and Dan felt a sting of happiness after days of despair -this looked like the choice his sister and Nellie would make. He grabbed his backpack and almost kicked the door open and jumped out. Irina followed him in a much more reserved manner.

  
"Wow, thanks." He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "I never thought I'd see them again!"

  
Irina withheld a small smile. "Next time, be more careful when running away. Or don't run away, at all."

  
"I'll keep that in mind, trust me." Dan laughed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Then something occured to him. "Say, Irina, would you like to, um... come with us?" It felt strange to suggest it, and even as he said it he knew Irina would refuse. But for a moment, they both entertained the thought; it wouldn't be such a bad idea, for any of the two parties revolved.

  
" _Spashiba_." Irina said eventually, then repeated, in English: "Thank you. But I'm afraid I cannot. I have new orders now. I no longer answer to the Kabras, and my new... employment requires that I keep out of the Hunt. I cannot help you with it."

  
"Oh." Dan frowned, both in disappointment and growing curiosity. Who was Irina's employer, anyway? "Then I suppose this is goodbye for now."

  
" _Da_ , I think so. However..." she seemed to think about it for a few seconds, but then she reached inside the pocket of her black jeans and held out a small piece of paper in her bandaged hand. "Contact me if you are in danger. I cannot help with the Clues, but I am allowed to interfere to keep you safe."

  
"That sounds confusing." Dan complained as he took the paper with a few numbers scribbled hastily on it.

  
"It will all clear up before the Gauntlet. This is all I can tell you right now." And then, to his surprise, Irina reached out and ruffled his hair. "Stay safe, boy."

  
"I will." He grinned up at her. "And uh, make sure you keep away from burning buildings for a while, yeah?" He turned around to run, but Irina's voice stopped him in his tracks.

  
"Daniel? One last thing: I would prefer it if I stayed dead for now... you understand?"

  
Secrecy, then. Sucks, he was so excited to tell Amy about this too... but he wouldn't betray Irina, especially since it could jeopardise her to people like Isabel Kabra. So he nodded a promise, and after a last wave of his hand, ran all the way towards the hostel.

  
When he reached the door and turned around one last time, Irina was gone.

* * *

  
" _Daniel Arthur Cahill_ , don't _ever_ do this again!"

  
Amy was almost chocking him as she hugged him, crying rivers on his shoulder while her body shook with sobs.

"Do you have  _the slightest_  idea of how worried we were?" Nellie didn't sound any less angry, but Dan couldn't help but smile, even if his own eyes were growing a little wet. They could scream at him all they wanted, and he wouldn't care; he'd missed them way too much...

  
A million teary-eyed apologies, angry scoldings and delighted " _mrrrps_!" later, Dan was sitting on the couch with Amy, telling her all about the last few days, as well as the clues he'd discovered. And of course his run-ins with the Wizards... leaving out everything that happened after.

  
"I can't believe that snotty brat fooled both you and me!" Amy raged on and on. "And how did it even occur to you that you could trust them- what was that?

 

Dan's phone had buzzed with a text message in his back pocket, and he fished it out to read it. He recognised the number almost immediately, and he couldn't help but grin as he read the text. 

' _You have people that love you, Amy & Daniel Cahill, even if they hide in the shadows for now. But you are not alone, and it will all clear up before the End. Until then, watch yourselves and stay safe. F & I._'

  
" _'F & I'_? What does that mean?" Amy frowned as she leaned over her brother's shoulder. "Who's that, Dan?"

  
"Hmm..." Dan hummed, as he shrugged and put the phone back into his pocket. He could guess who the 'I' was, although in all honesty he had no idea about the 'F' part. But maybe it didn't matter, or maybe it was Irina's mysterious employer. Either way, Amy didn't need to know just yet. Not until this 'End' -whatever _that_ meant.

"I don't know. But I guess you could say it was... a friend."

**Author's Note:**

> So uh yeah I hope you guys liked this. Also the F stands for Fiske and boom here's who Irina's new employer is. Maybe someday I'll write another drabble about how Irina joined the Madrigals but tonight it's not that night, and I gotta sleep so, that's all! Please R&R if you liked this!~


End file.
